大学英语考试精读第一册

1、大学英语考试精读第一册UNIT9大学英语考试精读:第一册(UNIT9)洛基英语，中国在线英语教育领导品牌Throughouttheagesdifferentideashavebeenexpressedabouttheworkingofthehumanbrain.Itisonlyrecently,however,thatsciencehasbeguntogiveussomeideaofhowthebrainreallyworks.TheBrainTheMostPowerfulComputerintheUniverseManstillhasa

2、lottolearnaboutthemostpowerfulandcomplexpartofhisbodythebrain.Inancienttimesmendidnotthinkthatthebrainwasthecentreofmentalactivity.AristotlethephilosopherofancientGreecethoughtthatthemindwasbasedintheheart.Itwasnotuntilthe18thcenturythatmanrealisedthatthewholeofthebrainwasinvolvedintheworkingsofthem

3、ind.Duringthe19thcenturyscientistsfoundthatwhencertainpartsofthebrainweredamagedmenlosttheabilitytodocertainthings.Andso,peoplethoughtthateachpartofthebraincontrolledadifferentactivity.Butmodernresearchhasfoundthatthisisnotso.Itisnoteasytosayexactlywhateachpartofthebraindoes.Inthepast50yearstherehas

4、beenagreatincreaseintheamountofresearchbeingdoneonthebrain.Chemistsandbiologistshavefoundthatthewaythebrainworksisfarmorecomplicatedthattheyhadthought.Infactmanypeoplebelievethatweareonlynowreallystartingtolearnthetruthabouthowthehumanbrainworks.Themorescientistsfindout,themorequestionstheyareunable

5、toanswer.Forinstance,chemistshavefoundthatover100,000chemicalreactionstakeplaceinthebraineverysecond.Mathematicianswhohavetriedtousecomputerstocopythewaythebrainworkshavefoundthatevenusingthelatestelectronicequipmenttheywouldhavetobuildacomputerwhichweighedover10,000kilos.Somerecentresearchalsosugge

6、ststhatweremembereverythingthathappenstous.Wemaynotbeabletorecallthisinformation,butitisallstoredinourbrains.Scientistshopethatifwecandiscoverhowthebrainworks,thebetterusewewillbeabletoputitto.Forexample,howdowelearnlanguage?Mandiffersmostfromalltheotheranimalsinhisabilitytolearnanduselanguagebutwes

7、tilldonotknowexactlyhowthisisdine.Somechildrenlearntospeakandreadandwritewhentheyareveryyoungcomparedtoaveragechildren.Butscientistsarenotsurewhythishappens.Theyaretryingtofindoutwhetherthereissomethingaboutthewayweteachlanguagetochildrenwhichinfactpreventschildrenfromlearningsooner.Earlierscientist

8、sthoughtthatduringaman'slifetimethepowerofhisbraindecreased.Butitisnowthoughtthatthisisnotso.Aslongasthebrainisgivenplentyofexerciseitkeepsitspower.Ithasbeenfoundthatanoldpersonwhohasalwaysbeenmentallyactivehasaquickermindthanayoungpersonwhohasdoneonlyphysicalwork.Itisnowthoughtthatthemoreworkwe

9、giveourbrains,themoreworktheyareabletodo.Otherpeoplenowbelievethatweuseonly1%ofourbrains'fullpotential.Theysaythattheonlylimitonthepowerofthebrainisthelimitofwhatwethinkispossible.Thisisprobablybecauseofthewaywearetaughtaschildren.Whenwefirststartlearningtouseourmindswearetoldwhattodo,forexample

10、,toremembercertainfacts,butwearenottaughthowourmemoryworksandhowtomakethatbestuseofit.Wearetoldtomakenotedhutwearenottaughthowourbrainsacceptinformationandwhichisthebestwaytoorganisetheinformationwewantourbrainstoaccept.Thiscenturymanhasmademanydiscoveriesabouttheuniversetheworldoutsidehimself.Buthe

11、hasalsostartedtolookintotheworkingsofthatotheruniversewhichisinsidehimselfthehumanbrain.NEWWORDScomputern.machinethatstoresinformationandworksoutanswers计算机universecomplexa.difficulttounderstandorexplain错综复杂的，难懂的ancienta.inoroftimeslongago古代的；古老的philosopherphilosophyinvolvevt.causetobecomeconnectedor

12、concerned使卷入workingn.（usu.pl.）operation;action运转，运行，活动abilityexactlyad.withcompleteconnectedorconcerned确切地；精确地n.数量，数额chemistn.onewhostudiesandunderstandschemistry化学家biologistn.onewhostudiesthelifeofanimalsandplants生物学家biologycomplicatedn.difficulttounderstand,complex难懂的；复杂的chemicala.ofchemistryunabl

13、ea.notablereactionn.反应mathematiciann.onewhostudiesandunderstandsmathematics数学家equipn.设备，装置kilo=kilogram公斤，千克recenta.doneormadenotlongago近来的recallvt.remember记得；回忆起differvi.bedifferent（from）mentallyad.智力上，脑力上physicala.ofthebody;ofmatter;ofthescienceofphysics身体的；物质的；物理学的potentialn.潜力limitn.局限，限度PHRASES&EXPRESSIONSput,to（good）useuse（